Both the Philadelphia City Paper and Philadelphia Weekly took home plenty of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association's 2008 Keystone Press Awards. City Paper's Tom Namako and Doron Taussig placed first and second, respectively, in the speciality category of Distinguished Writing in a Weekly. The Weekly won the Sweepstakes award for the division in which alt-weeklies are eligible. In competition within that division, the Weekly won 11 awards, including first-place finishes in Feature Story, Headline Writing, News Feature Story, News Photo, and Online Journalistic Innovation. City Paper also nabbed 11 awards in that division, including first-place wins in Business or Consumer Story, Column, Investigative Reporting, and News Beat Reporting.

Continue ReadingAAN Members Win Handful of Pennsylvania Press Awards

Former assistant commissioner for the Chicago Department of Aviation James Sachay has filed suit against the Reader and political activist Frank Coconate for defamation after a comment on the paper's "Clout City" blog was attributed to him, CBS-2 Chicago reports. According to the suit, Coconate wrote the incriminating comment, dated January 31 at 7:37 a.m., and attributed it to Sachay. Despite the Reader having a comments policy that states, in part, "please note that commenters are free to use whatever name(s) they choose," the suit claims the paper was negligent for not screening the blog. The four-count suit asks for more than $800,000 from Coconate and the Reader.

Continue ReadingChicago Reader Named in Defamation Suit

This year's Burlington Business Award recognizes Seven Days for "for exemplary business practices, contributions to the community and promotion of a positive image for Burlington." Co-founders Pamela Polston and Paula Routly accepted the award at the Burlington Business Assocation dinner this week, where more than 400 attendees, including Vermont's governor and the mayor of Burlington, gave them a standing ovation.

Continue ReadingSeven Days Wins Burlington Business Award

The winners of the Colorado Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists' 2008 Mark of Excellence awards were announced late last month, and both Boulder Weekly and the Colorado Springs Independent went home winners, AAN News has learned. The Indy won 13 awards total, including six first-place finishes -- in A&E Reporting, Education Reporting, Food and Beverage, Legal Affairs Reporting Personal Columns, and Political Reporting. Boulder Weekly won a total of four awards, including one first-place finish in the Science/Environment/Ag/Medical reporting category. In addition, Indy contributing editor Cara DeGette placed first in the blog category for her writing on ColoradoConfidential.com, the Denver-based website she helped launch in 2006.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Fare Well in Colorado SPJ Awards

At the annual meeting in Portland last year, AAN members approved a budget that eliminated funding for the regional staff training conferences that had been held annually in San Francisco and Washington D.C., AAN Board president Stephen Leon explains in a memo mailed to publishers this week (and available in the Resource Library). In lieu of the conferences, the Board allocated a sum of money to "regional staff training," without specifying dates or locations. The idea was that individual publishers, or small groups of publishers, could submit conference proposals to AAN to apply for "grant" money from the budget. This year's AAN West conference was the first conference organized under the program; in a document that was attached to Leon's memo, the organizers share their "formula for success."

Continue ReadingAAN Promotes Regional Staff Training Fund